Architects in action
Whether it’s working with mayors, collaborating with filmmakers, or tackling key issues like rising water, natural disasters, sustainability, and housing, architects are leading the way.
Chicago Ideas
Architects worked with children and adults to imagine better, safer communities and schools at Chicago Ideas Week.
The Future of Affordable Housing
Architects are using modular design to create more cost-effective housing – changing the future of building in the process.
Civic Leaders
Get connected with architects in your city.
Rebuilding an Island
A visionary architect teams with Tesla and a hurricane-ravaged community in Puerto Rico to rewrite the region’s future.
Designing a Safer School
How architects are working with communities to create more secure campuses.
The Future of Resiliency and Sustainability
The Hurricane Strong Home is a groundbreaking blend of resilience and sustainability
2019 AIA Film Challenge
Charting a course for Chicago’s historic Pullman neighborhood
By Kathleen M. O’Donnell
President Barack Obama’s dedication of the Pullman National Monument in February 2015 signified a new move for the National Park Service. A major win after decades of work by Pullman neighborhood leaders, architects, and officials, the precedent-setting designation meant that planned urban areas could now be recognized as vital pieces in the fabric of our country’s landscape.
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What is a community design charrette?
By Kathleen M. O’Donnell
Throughout the second half of the 20th century, practices of community participation and equitable development entered mainstream design processes giving rise to a new generation of socially-conscious architects and designers that shape the world around us.
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Communities and designers team up to revive storefronts across the US
By Kathleen M. O’Donnell
Despite the shift toward big box stores and online retail giants leading into the 21st century, small businesses remain the cornerstone of many neighborhood blocks and main streets, serving communities of all sizes.
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